I was where Rasmus Hojlund is at the moment at various times of my career when there is this slight hesitation in all aspects of his game.
Not scoring against Real Sociedad Thursday means that it is 19 goalless games now and I’m sorry for him because I don’t really see how he had the service and the opportunities created for him. Diogo Dalot not crossing for him is a case in point.
People can say that it doesn’t affect you, but it is. I remember Chelsea when I was out of shape, I told myself that there is nothing wrong, but this hesitation is what kills you. It is not a lower level football, you play against some of the best players in the world and if you are slightly in the absence, you cannot afford it.
Look when Chido Obi, 17, came against Fulham and everything was so natural for him and he did not reflect too much; He played as if he would normally do it for young people and with a freedom which he shows with his own age group. For Hojlund, he hesitates and seems uncertain there.
Looking back when, in terms of my state of mind as a player to come, I was young, full of s ***, and I had such confidence and everything was so free and I was intrepid, even if I was raw.
But when my form has passed as she did in Chelsea, my thing was practice, practice, practice.
The Manchester United striker, Rasmus Hojlund, 22, is in the middle of a drought of 19 games
Hojlund seems to be leaning for confidence and seems to hesitate and support each other
I suffered a similar nightmare drought during my only season in Chelsea in 1999-2000
I remember Chelsea, I spent a lot of time on the training field to do additional head-on-à-tête exercises with Gianluca Vialli, which I really liked and which was of great help for me.
We practice vollying techniques, just hearing the ball properly struck at the back of the net, the left foot, the right foot, a touch, two -touched finishes, that kind of thing. It was my thing I did regularly.
For me, it was a game of figures, just hearing the ball entering several times to try to bring me back on the stride. One of the best goals I have ever scored was a volley against Juventus in the Champions League which was completely in Vialli and his time to master this technique.
Without a doubt, Hojlund tries different ways to try to recover this freedom and this confidence. He seems to be a good honest guy who works his tail in training.
But he is in a team that has trouble creating opportunities and when you don’t know how these chances are going to happen, a number of things in the mixture. He hesitates, he is little confident, he does not know when someone will make him a pass, so this understanding is not there.
There will also be an element of his conscience that Obi is on the stage now and people want him to play and are doing well too.
For him, and it was similar for me to Chelsea who goes for a lot of money, there is sometimes a weight with that and a garter around my neck.
It seems that he is in this same boat right now with his label of 72 million pounds sterling. Manchester United is a huge club and when you think of the big strikers they have had over the years and has been brought to imitate them. It was a huge demand.
When my shape took place as it did at Stamford Bridge, my thing was practice, practice, practice
The emergence of striker Hosthot Chido Obi, 17, is also likely to play in Hojlund’s mind
Hojlund was a development player brought to United for an astronomical sum
He looked brighter against the real Sociedad and he must simply work as hard as possible in training
Unfortunately, he was brought as a development player and I fear that you will opt for an astronomical sum and people forget it.
He must develop in the most uncomfortable circumstances and that is where everyone will see it at the moment.
Its figures before coming to the club count. They have not signed someone who had already been prolific in Atalanta and the wait at Manchester United is still about 20 goals per season. This is a problem.
Hojlund looked brighter against Real Sociedad without the service testing the goalkeeper. Right now, it’s about recovering your instinct.
I always remember Martin O’Neill to Celtic by saying the players several times that if they have a bad touch, always show the ball. I think that is part of what happened to Hojlund now. He hesitates and it kills you.
When you start to miss a few chances and you don’t even get a chance, there is a doubt of making a certain movement or even hesitating to make the race that you would have before.
There have been many opportunities when Hojlund will run a race and the ball does not come, then he is at a point where he probably still wants to do this race, but he is reluctant to do it because the teammates do not feed him.
My advice to him right now would be to stay outside social networks. It is an absolute madness that uses this right now. As a player, I could not think of anything worse because he will make criticism of all directions.
He will undoubtedly say to people that he is doing well and that he is confident, but how can you be good and confident?
I was sometimes like Pinocchio in Chelsea. People asked me when I was on a dryness drought and I would always say “I’m fine, I feel confident” but I was lying. You are human after all. He is a young player with this price and some people are better in bluff than others. It’s hard.